Samsung unveils Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

Samsung has finally unveiled its Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. Many features surrounding Samsung’s latest smartphone were already known after a series of leaks in the past few weeks. In fact, just this morning Samsung was left red faced after it accidently uploaded the Galaxy S8 spec to its website, just hours before the big launch. The most exciting features include voice assistant Bixby, facial and retina recognition and a new-look elongated screen.

The most obvious new addition (which everyone is talking about, literally) is the introduction of voice assistant Bixby. Samsung finally confirmed that its latest device would feature a voice-activated assistant, after an ‘accidental leak’ in the run up to launch day. Triggered by pressing a button on the side of the phone, unlike rivals Siri and Alexa, Samsung bosses have announced that plans are in place to implement the voice assistant in ‘millions of Samsung devices’, including TVs and washing machines.

Another, much-talked-about feature is the introduction of eye-reading technology. Used as an extra security setting to unlock the smartphone, the eye-reader could soon be used to confirm payments over online banking. It is in fact, just one of four different ways to unlock the phone with password, finger print and facial recognition all available.

The regular S8 is with a 5.8-inch display and an elongated 18.5:9 aspect ratio, the screen is slightly larger than the S7. (The S8 plus boasts a 6.2-inch screen.) But with a similar body size, the S8 feels (and looks) much the same as the S7 (H: 149mm x W: 68mm x D: 8mm). Sliming down its bezels above and below the screen (much like the Galaxy Edge), the display typifies Galaxy’s desire to produce a ‘more efficient smartphone’. However, to achieve the bigger screen, the iconic Samsung Home button has been removed from the front of the device and instead a 3D Touch-esque pressure sensing feature has been added to create the illusion of a home button under the screen. Bumping the front camera up to 8MP, the Galaxy’s main shooter remains at 12MP as it was in the S7.

With Apple gearing up to announce the launch of its 10-year anniversary iPhone later in the year, Samsung will be hoping a Spring launch can take a bite out of their main competitors sales. Time will tell, but at least the Galaxy S8 has a headphone port. Pre-orders of the S8 and S8 Plus go on sale in the UK on March 30, with the S8 costing £689, while the Plus will set you back £779. The devices go on sale ‘proper’ from April 28.